The Star-LedgerA Star-Ledger composite photo of Newark Liberty International Airport and security employee John Brek.NEWARK -- A security guard at Newark Liberty International Airport who has been in jail since his arrest last month for threatening to shoot President Obama, has pleaded guilty to lesser charges and is expected to be released Thursday, his attorney and law enforcement authorities said today.

John Brek, 55, of Linden, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Newark to two counts of harassment in connection with the Oct. 20 incident at the airport, according to the office of Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow.

The harassment counts are similar to disorderly persons offenses, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. They represent a drastic reduction from the original felony charges Brek faced: making terroristic threats and possessing a rifle stolen from Alabama; and possessing hollow-point bullets.

He had faced up to five years in prison if convicted on the top count.

Brek was arrested after two Continental Airlines employees at Newark Airport alerted police to comments he made at the airport lunch truck about cutting a hole in a fence so he could shoot the president.

Police went to Brek’s home after learning about the alleged threat. When they arrived, they discovered found 43 guns — all but one licensed — and hollow-point bullets. Loriquet said another 27 guns, all registered to Brek, were found at a friend’s home in Linden.

Brek’s family, friends and his attorney described him as a hunter and a gun collector, and someone who had never been particularly interested in politics.

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerJohn Break via video arraignment on charges of making a terroristic threat about President Barack Obama."This is an absolutely outrageous case," his attorney, Moses Rambarran, said today. "He should have never been arrested. He should have never been charged. It’s now 27 days later and he’s still in Essex County Jail. This is a huge, massive infringement on his First Amendment rights and his right to bear arms."

Brek was a security guard for FJC Security Services Inc., checking vehicles entering and exiting the airport tarmac. He worked with company for 17 years, had an "outstanding record," and once received employee-of-the-month honors, Rambarran said.

As part of his plea deal, which was accepted Friday and announced today, Brek admitted to making statements to the two Continental employees in which he pointed to holes in a black cloth that had been draped over a security fence erected where Air Force One would park, Rambarran said. The attorney said Brek told the two men the holes in the draping would give someone who wanted to shoot the president a clear view.

Rambarran said his client "didn’t agree to any language that he threatened to kill the president."

Brek will undergo a psychological evaluation, the results of which will be submitted to Superior Court Judge Robert Gardner before sentencing, Loriquet said. Brek will likely be sentenced to time-served but also faces possible monitoring or probation pending results of that evaluation, authorities said.

Port Authority police arrested Brek, but the prosecutor’s office was quickly handed the case, and today stood behind its decision to charge him.

Brek "did plead guilty stemming from his conduct on Oct. 20," Loriquet said. "We think this is a fair resolution. We had to take these threats very seriously."

Brek’s guilty plea appears to close the case, though federal charges were never ruled out. U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan declined to comment.

Brek’s attorney said the government knew he never posed a threat, adding that authorities conducted a psychological evaluation of him the day he was arrested and came to the same conclusion.

At Brek’s arraignment on Oct. 22, Newark Municipal Court Judge Amilkar Velez-Lopez said the defendant’s occupation and his array of weapons made any threat against the president a realistic possibility. "It was not just an idle threat," he said at the time.

But Rambarran said the government "concluded it was a true threat based simply on the fact that Mr. Brek possessed 43 guns." He expected his client to be released at Thursday’s sentencing, and his gun collection eventually returned.

Rambarran denied Brek knew one of the rifles he purchased had been stolen out of Alabama, as had been charged. A separate count of possession of prohibited devices — hollow-point bullets — had already been dropped because Brek met the requirements to own the ammunition, his attorney said.

The arrest and ensuing media storm has upended his life, Rambarran said. Unable to pay the $220,00 bail, Brek will have spent 30 days in protective custody at Essex County Jail when he is sentenced Thursday.

"He’s in a 10-by-6 (foot) cell with no windows and no human contact for 47 hours at a time. It’s already cruel and harsh," Rambarran said.